The subject matter discussed in this section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in this section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in this section or associated with the subject matter provided as background should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in this section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves can also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
Multicast streaming technologies pertain to transmission of multiple video/audio streams to individual clients. Each such stream can originate from a different video/audio source and can employ different network technologies, such as Internet, Ethernet, Frame Relay, fiber, etc. for transmission. A major drawback of such systems is latency, i.e., the required bandwidth is directly proportional to the number of video/audio sources streaming. Therefore, a high bandwidth is required for performing video/audio streaming of high quality.
The problem of latency is exacerbated in multicast streaming environments that require instantaneous switching between different compressed video/audio streams. Various solutions have been proposed to reduce the switching delay between compressed video/audio streams. However, these solutions have not been entirely successful because they either impose additional undesired computational requirements on the clients or are restricted to switching between streams originating from the same source. Accordingly, new technical solutions are needed to overcome the limitations in the prior art.
An opportunity arises to perform smooth transitioning between pluralities of compressed video/audio sources in a multicast streaming environment without requiring additional bandwidth or burdening the computational resources of the clients. Enhanced user experience and satisfaction may result.